Feds Face Sanctions Over Robbery Case At Odds With Video

By Lauren Berg

An Illinois federal judge Thursday said she wants to hear from the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago as she considers sanctions in a now-dismissed case charging three people with trying to rob undercover ATF agents at gunpoint, after prosecutors discovered video evidence that was "inconsistent" with the criminal complaint.

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Another Defendant Claims Ill. AUSA Prejudiced Grand Jury

By Celeste Bott

Another defendant alleged Thursday that the same Chicago federal prosecutor linked to misconduct claims that ultimately tanked two recent criminal cases also made prejudicial remarks to the grand jury while seeking arson charges against him, improperly vouched for the strength of the government's case, and shared personal opinions about his guilt.

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Otter Tail To Pay $30M To Settle PVC Price-Fix Claims

By Celeste Bott

Otter Tail has agreed to pay $30 million to resolve certain claims in litigation alleging it and two subsidiaries conspired with other polyvinyl chloride pipe producers to fix prices, the company said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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CME Group Sues CFTC Over Perpetual-Contracts Approval

By Jessica Corso

CME Group is challenging the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's decision to approve the listing of perpetual contracts, arguing in a lawsuit that the agency "overrode Congress's definition of the term 'swap'" when it gave Kalshi the green light last month to allow trading on bitcoin spot prices. 

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Blackstone's LivCor Cuts $7M Rent-Fixing Deal With 9 States

By Dorothy Atkins

Blackstone subsidiary LivCor LLC has agreed to pay North Carolina, California and seven other states $7 million in penalties to resolve allegations against it in a sprawling antitrust lawsuit alleging major landlords used software company RealPage to fix rent prices, according to documents filed in North Carolina federal court Thursday.

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DirecTV, AGs Tell 9th Circ. Not To Curb Nexstar-Tegna Block

By Bryan Koenig

DirecTV and a coalition of state attorneys general urged the Ninth Circuit not to narrow a district court preliminary injunction blocking Nexstar's purchase of Tegna, arguing the only way to preserve competition while the case proceeds is a full block, not one restricted to 31 overlapping broadcast markets.

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Perplexity AI Limits Research Tool's Functions, Users Claim

By Hailey Konnath

A pair of Perplexity AI users has filed a proposed class action claiming the artificial intelligence company lures customers into fixed-term contracts and then "dramatically" decreases the services those customers can access midway through their subscription terms without notice.

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Health System Strikes Deal To End Tobacco Fee Suit

By Grace Elletson

Nonprofit health system Advocate Aurora Health reached a deal to close a proposed class action claiming it hit workers with an unlawful fee through their health plan if they used tobacco, according to a filing in Illinois federal court.

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Fertility Chain Beats Suit Alleging Bogus Embryo Test Claims

By Jonathan Capriel

A fertility clinic chain has defeated a proposed class action accusing it of deceptively marketing its preimplantation genetic testing, after a Colorado federal judge found none of the patients claimed their own tests were inaccurate or caused a miscarriage or failed pregnancy.

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A Lender's Guide To Fraud: Identifying Risks

The evolving lending landscape, particularly the private credit boom, has heightened lenders' exposure to fraud, but recent bankruptcies demonstrate where fraud risks most commonly materialize and how banks can mitigate exposure at the outset, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

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Series

Founding An Autism Academy Made Me A Better Lawyer

Starting a nonprofit autism school with no building, no funding model and no guarantee that families would trust us taught me the importance of mission, patience and purpose — lessons that sharpened my practice and showed how meaningful work outside the office can make lawyers better, says Phillip Russell at Ogletree Deakins.

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Judiciary Cites AI Deepfakes In Opposing Courtroom Cameras

By Courtney Bublé

Two bipartisan bills to bring cameras into federal courtrooms advanced Thursday, but the policymaking body for the federal judiciary continues to oppose them and raised the issue of deepfakes in the age of artificial intelligence.

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Trump Lawyer Advances In Senate Judiciary Noms Vote

By Courtney Bublé

The nomination of Matthew Schwartz to be a judge on the Second Circuit advanced out of committee Thursday.

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'Mortified' Atty Takes Blame For Fake Quotes In Taco TM Fight

By Ivan Moreno

A Connecticut attorney facing possible sanctions over fake case quotations in a taco restaurant trademark fight told a federal judge that he takes "full and unqualified responsibility" for the flawed filings, saying he is "mortified" and acknowledging that his verification process for AI-assisted legal work fell far short.

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Calif. Moves On Proposal To Allow Legal Aid By Nonlawyers

By Lynn LaRowe

The California Supreme Court has directed the state bar to solicit public comments on a proposed community justice worker program that would allow nonlawyers to provide limited legal assistance under the supervision of qualified legal aid organizations, according to a Thursday announcement.

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Analysis

Law Students Undeterred Under Trump's Immigration Climate

By Britain Eakin

In a climate where immigration lawyers are coming under the Trump administration’s scrutiny to tamp down on asylum fraud, law students are being ignited to enter the workforce early and rectify the injustices they see.

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Mich. Panel Sanctions Atty Over AI-Hallucinated Cases

By Susan Smiley

A medical malpractice suit in the Michigan Court of Appeals led to financial sanctions against an attorney who the court said during litigation repeatedly cited nonexistent cases that were generated by artificial intelligence.

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Ford Says 'Lemon Law' Firm Faked Bills Using Overseas Staff

By Linda Chiem

Ford Motor Co. accused California personal injury firm Quill & Arrow LLP of defrauding it out of more than $25 million in high-priced legal bills for work actually handled by virtual assistants overseas and non-lawyers in scores of product liability cases against the automaker.

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NY High Court Upholds Mandatory Judge Retirement Age

By Dorothy Atkins

New York's highest court Thursday affirmed a ruling that rejected jurists' challenges to the Empire State's mandatory retirement age of 70 for state judges and justices, finding that the centuries-old constitutional mandate doesn't conflict with a recent state civil rights amendment banning age discrimination.

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Tort Report: Meta Set To Face Facebook Sex Trafficking Trial

By Y. Peter Kang

An upcoming trial in Texas for a first-of-its-kind case against Meta and claims against a health clinic owned by a U.S. senator lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

General counsel may cringe at the news, but their chief financial officers will rejoice over a new study that shows the average spending by legal departments dropped to a six-year low in 2026. And two in-house Cigna lawyers are at the center of a finding of "improperly asserted privilege" over key company documents related to a payment lawsuit brought by three labs.

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